SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)- Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to allot USD 40 billion to the Silk Road Fund, which is designed to help Asian countries improve trade and transport links.

The Chinese leader made the promise on Saturday during a meeting with leaders of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar and Tajikistan.

“Efforts by a single or several countries are far from adequate,” Xi noted, adding, “Only by building extensive partnerships where all will think and work in unison can we expect to achieve positive results.”

In October, China along with 20 other Asian nations signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Authorities said that the bank, which is set to have an initial capital of USD 50 billion mostly provided by China, aims to meet the need for the construction of dams, ports, power plants and telecommunications networks in Asia.

In May, the Chinese president called for the establishment of a new Asian structure for security cooperation based on a group that includes Russia.

Linking Asian nations is “not merely about building roads and bridges or making linear connection of different places on surface,” Xi said

“More importantly, it should be a three-way combination of infrastructure, institutions and people-to-people exchanges and a five-way progress in policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, trade link, capital flow and understanding among peoples.”

As the world’s second-largest economy, China seeks to play a greater part in international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, dominated by Europe, the US and Japan